Black Spots on Grey Coat?

Hi Everyone,

Unfortunately I dropped my digital camera...urg! and can't post a photo of what I'm curious about. That is - Panda with his really new short hair do (the shortest I've ever seen him clipped) has dark black hair in numerous places all over his back. In fact, they are so numerous they resemble a Dalmation coat but with white and grey too.

Last week I met a woman at a park whom is a groomer and she commented on his coat and said" it's usually where the skin has had some kind of trauma underneath."

I believe her as although Merlin has beautiful grey hair he once had to get staples on his side. We were out walking last year and suddenly two dogs appeared out of nowhere (no owner in sight) and flanked him on both sides. He yelped and I drove them off. When I got home I noticed blood and rushed him to the vet and we discovered a large gash on his side. He had to get staples for the gash. When the hair grew back - that area now has black hair.

I also remember a few posters commented on this same effect where their dog experienced trauma of some kind - ie stitches or something like that and the hair grew back black.

Back to Panda...his whole body is covered with these spots of black hair! I know his hair was in very poor condition when he arrived at my home. His entire coat had a yellowish tinge, felt horrible to touch and smelled, and it took about a year or more of good food and short clips to get the hair to where it's now white and grey. That is until I saw all these black spots in the grey coat which is now noticable since his short clip.

Apologies for wordy post...my question is..has anyone seen this before and is previous trauma the only explaination? Yes, as far as I know he's full sheepie and not a mix in case someone thought that might be the answer.

Yep I call it trauma hair, Kelsey has a beauty on her side, she at nearly 11 is still a lovely light grey all over, she had surgergy to remove an abcess on her side and where the op took place it has grown back jet black. With the light grey coat boy she has a fancy streak of black on her side Very common even dogs that have had skin problems say itching/scratching in same spot and causing trauma to the skin, you usually get when the hair grows back a black spot of hair.
With panda and the condition he arrived in, it is not unusual that he has these black patches/spots, I am sure he is a full OES just the poor condition before you saved him has caused this to occur in the coat.

He may also be a merle.

I would say that it is probably from his previous skin condition. Norman has this happen everytime he has an allergic reaction. Give it time and see if the hair comes in grey underneath. Norman has some long, grey hair with black tips, it's very 80s!

My parents' sheepdog Maggie sometimes licks and bites areas of her skin (dry skin and itches) and in the few places where she has consistently made herself raw in those spots they have turned black or dark grey, so I would go with the theory of skin trauma...

yep boo's the same with her skin problems she got lots of black patches even some where she hasent had a skin irritation.

Thanks everyone for their help. I hadn't noticed all the black fur the other two times he was clipped but as I said , this is the shortest clip he's had so far.

Marianne and the boys

Dixie was shaved in some areas, and in those places the fur is growing back black and straight, where the rest is grey and wirey. Looks like she was having her hair curled, but some of the curlers were taken out too early

Rags has some black spots.....mostly just black hairs mixed into her coat.
She does have a spot on her shoulder that looks like the letter W. Also more black hairs on her lower back by her nubby tail.
Strangley enough her left front leg was white almost all the way down when I shaved her.... It is now silver almost all the way to the bottom.
I guess we will see what happens when he coat grows in as far as color goes

Pepsi's Mommy wrote:

Rags has some black spots.....mostly just black hairs mixed into her coat.She does have a spot on her shoulder that looks like the letter W.

Maybe you should have named her Wags...

ButtersStotch wrote:

Pepsi's Mommy wrote:

Rags has some black spots.....mostly just black hairs mixed into her coat.She does have a spot on her shoulder that looks like the letter W.

Maybe you should have named her Wags...

LOL

Well hubby's real name is William so he thinks it's pretty neat. He said it means she is meant for him.

I am uploading a picture of the "W"

Pepsi's Mommy wrote:

I am uploading a picture of the "W"

Maybe Rags is a Republican?

Oh Ron

Well here it is for your viewing pleasure Rags and her "W"

Now the Administration is branding poor defenseless animals?!?

Oh, the humanity!

My 12 year old OES named Nonna is also experiencing this odd growth. She has about 5 patches on her back, which are brand new, and are definitely not the result of a trauma. She has experienced skin issues in the past though not in the spots where the black hair is growing in. The hair is definitely a different texture than the rest of her hair and we usually keep her cut on the short side so I know that these spots are less than a month old. Anyway, I have no idea what they are related too. I like to think it is something of a Benjamin Button situation and my dog is experiencing a reverse aging...wishful thinking?? I realize I haven't added anything useful to this conversation, but I wanted a chance to talk about my dog.

Gracie doesn't really have color changes in her coat but has something odd going on with her belly skin -- When I first got her from the shelter 10 or so years ago and she was freshly spayed I noticed while caring for her scar that her belly skin had faint polkadots looking about an inch in diameter. Then suddenly some weeks later the dots were gone. However, occasionally the reappear again all throughout the years. Any ideas???

Obviously she's not a leopard as they don't change their spots, but maybe a seasonal dalmatian in disguise???